


attention shoppers: wants are a trap

by youngerdrgrey



Category: Superstore (TV)
Genre: 30 x 31 Writing Challenge, F/F, F/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 17:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9196001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngerdrgrey/pseuds/youngerdrgrey
Summary: Amy and Jonah abandon the jewelry section to try and help two shoppers find love. Garrett helps (more than they do anyway)./prompt:first kiss.





	

**Author's Note:**

> written for day 1 of 30 x 31, prompt: first kiss

 

Jonah would sooner say that there was a benefit to Trump being elected President than he would admit that working alongside Amy was the best part of his day. Honestly, with the amount of energy everyone else put into giving their little shipper looks, he couldn't possibly say that he liked working with her without it seeming like some huge declaration of love.

But he really does like it. He likes the way she rolls her eyes at everything but still turns the jewelry back into their proper positions after someone touches them. Likes how she dusts and wipes under the cases because no one ever thinks to actually do that. Likes the fact that every time they're at jewelry together, she gets that lighter tone like she's thinking of Emma. Sometimes, she even talks about her. Never anything big, just little stuff. Emma's got an essay due in a few days, and she's barely past her rough draft, which apparently means she's going to be a procrastinator like Amy.

Jonah tries to explain. "Studies show that procrastinators tend to be perfectionists, so whenever she does finish the paper, it'll probably be awesome." A cool way to say that Amy doesn't need to worry.

"Oh, I'm not worried. She'll ace it, then she'll go back to hanging out with her friends and watching way too many shows on Netflix."

"Binge-watching," Jonah nods. "I know it well."

Amy snorts and goes back to spraying the glass with glass cleaner. She doesn't have paper towels, though, so he doubts she actually plans on cleaning them. Just drenches them and watches how the water distorts people's reflections. Kind of like how people's experiences always color the way they perceive other people. Take the fact that Jonah's best friend grew up with a single mom, because of knowing her and knowing his old best friend, he believes that Amy could do an amazing job raising Emma all on her own. And because of actually meeting Adam, he knows that Amy's probably already doing that anyway. It's like--

"Hey, look." Amy motions with her head over to where two girls -- probably seventeen at most -- try on scarves. The taller of the girls has about eight scarves on her, but she laughs and just drapes more on the smaller one. Their arms bump every time they try layering scarves on each other, and they get closer with each one, trying to sneak under each other's arms. It's kind of a convoluted way to play their way into a close proximity.

"Oh, they're flirting," Jonah whispers it; he's sure, but the whisper seems to set off some sort of alert system. The taller one stops playing and flushes. The shorter one takes off all the scarves but one.

Amy's quick to say, "You should keep them. All of them. They're... really cute."

"So are you," Jonah blinks a few too many times. "Together. Not separately. Not that you're not -- you're children, and I am not into children. No matter what people are whispering in the break room."

"Jonah, shut up."

The girls keep staring at them. The shorter one says, "Thank you."

The taller one says, "But we're not -- this isn't -- thanks."

Then the shorter one looks down to the pile of scarves in her hands and says, "You don't have to keep saying that this isn't anything. Nobody thinks it is."

"That's not what I meant."

"It's fine. I get what this is. Can we just get this and got then?" She drops everything else down onto the rack and stalks off towards check out. Jonah nearly calls out that they can buy those here, but both girls leave earshot pretty quick.

Jonah sighs. "You know it's so sad. I really thought they liked each other."

"Oh they definitely like each other. We have to fix this."

Not that Jonah wouldn't love to play matchmaker instead of checking to see if all the earrings in the little earring packs are still there, but, um, "How?"

Garrett's voice breaks through the store with an announcement. His "Attention shoppers" barely finishes before Amy's clapping her hands and rushing out from their booth. She doesn't wait for him, but she throws a glare back that gets Jonah to loop around and follow after her.

By the time they get to Garrett, the two girls are already in line, standing about as far away from each other as they can given that they're in the same aisle. They even have the divider down between Short One's scarf and Tall One's pack of ginger ale cans.

Amy slaps her hands down on the counter top. "Garrett, we need you to make a new announcement. Something about love and getting what you really want instead of wondering what everyone else wants and expects for you."

Garrett glances between the two of them. "Any particular reason why?"

Jonah tries to eye the girls subtly, but that doesn't work, so then he tries miming out that they're girls, but doing the hour glass figure doesn't really work for kids who definitely don't have curves like that, and -- "Just say it. Please. We'll explain later."

"No need. Don't care." He hits the button for the intercom. "Attention Cloud 9 shoppers, as we come to the end of our journeys here today, ask yourself: Do you have what you really want? Sure, you might have some new...." He waves an empty hand for a cue, and Amy mimes pulling something on her hands. "Gloves?" Amy nods, and wraps an imaginary scarf around her neck. "Or a scarf! But will those keep you warm in the way that really counts? Sometimes, all you need is a friend."

"No!" Jonah covers his own mouth.

"Not a friend," Amy insists.

Garrett adds, "Or something more! What's even better than a friend, you ask? An explicitly stated romantic partner. Because friendship is stupid. The only real relationships are ones you can consummate."

Amy groans. They are so getting fired for all of this. Which, if they have to go, at least it'll be for love. Burgeoning, potentially closeted puppy love between two strangers in a supermarket. Jonah looks over to the line the girls are in, but they're still awkward, even more so now.

He has to do something. He has to find a way to signal that it's okay to be who they are and to care about who they care about. He has to -- "I have to make a big declaration." He grabs hold of the intercom before Amy can even begin to tell him not to. Garrett smiles that grin that definitely means that this is a bad idea, but how bad could it really be?

Amy says, "Please don't."

But Jonah says, "Shoppers, I don't think we ask you all enough what you want. So, here's your chance. If there's something that you want -- and I mean, really want --" and he definitely doesn't make eye contact with Amy as he says this, he might look and catch the side of her face in his range of vision, might see the way her eyes stare as far from him as possible and her lips curl in like she's trying to stop herself from doing something. "Maybe you're afraid to even want it. Or voice it to yourself. But you owe it to yourself and whoever --  _whatever_  -- you want to be honest. To look up and say, 'Hey, I like being around you. I like getting to stand by you and plot with you, and the fact that you change your name so often that it's impossible to keep up anymore. You are unequivocally the best part of my day.'"

By this point, there's eye contact, full non-blinking, bodies facing each other, mic picking up his heightened breathing, no one else doing anything kind of eye contact. And Amy reaches a hand out towards him, and he feels it around his fingers, feels the warmth coming from her, and he might just imagine the way that she whispers out a light "Jonah?" But then they hear it.

"Becca?" And it's the short girl, death-gripping her scarf, standing on top of the check out belt. "They keep saying what do we want? I want this to be something. And I don't care if you think it's dumb to want something when everything ends so quick around here. So what if everyone else gets together just because they feel like they have to? I want to get together because I want to. So what do you say?"

And the taller girl -- Becca -- stares up for what's probably the first time in their relationship and says, "Um." Then she glances at Cheyenne, who seems a little too wide-eyed to mention the fact that no one's allowed to stand up there. Then she holds her hands out to bring the shorter girl back down. "I don't want to make a scene here. But, you are kind of unequivocably --"

"Unequivocally," Jonah mumbles, but no one hears him.

"-- the best part of my day. So, I guess we can try this."

"Really?"

"Really!"

The short one surges forward, and the tall one ducks down, and they're kissing for the first time in the middle of the busy check out line! It's practically the corporation's dream.

And Amy's grip tightens on Jonah's hand before she pulls the intercom out from him. She sets it back down and watches the girls a moment longer. "We should head back to jewelry. Our job's done here."

Garrett shrugs. "I don't know, man. What do you want?"

Amy freezes. Glances from the girls to Jonah to Garrett. Then she swallows down whatever it was she was thinking, or feeling, and rolls her shoulders back. "I want to finish cleaning the glass before kids touch them again. See you in the break room."

Jonah watches her go. He just kind of needs a moment or two.

Garrett asks agin, "What do you want?"

Jonah sighs. "Everybody in the store knows what I want."

"Not  _everybody_." Garrett holds the emphasis before cracking into a laugh. "Nah, man, everybody knows. You said the name tag thing. You're screwed."

He groans. "I zoned out!" He should've just said the Trump thing. Much easier to deal with strangers calling him racist than deal with Amy avoiding him. This was gonna take a lot of groveling to fix. Or maybe just some avoidance of his own. "Swap stations with me? I'll buy you lunch."

"Deal. But none of the cheap stuff." Garrett wheels out and around for the aisles. "I'm feeling Thai!"

Thai he could do. Everything else was the problem.

But the two girls left the store holding hands, so at least one part of the day turned out okay.

.

.


End file.
